Water‐induced pseudo‐quadruple hydrogen‐bonding motifs in xanthine–inorganic acid complexes

In xanthinium nitrate hydrate [systematic name: 2,6‐dioxo‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydro‐9 H ‐purin‐7‐ium nitrate monohydrate], C 5 H 5 N 4 O 2 + ·NO 3 − ·H 2 O, (I), and xanthinium hydrogen sulfate hydrate [systematic name: 2,6‐dioxo‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydro‐9 H ‐purin‐7‐ium hydrogen sulfate monohydrate], C 5 H 5 N 4 O 2 + ·HSO 4 − ·H 2 O, (II), the xanthine molecules are protonated at the imine N atom with the transfer of an H atom from the inorganic acid. The asymmetric unit of (I) contains a xanthinium cation, a nitrate anion and one water molecule, while that of (II) contains two crystallographically independent xanthinium cations, two hydrogen sulfate anions and two water molecules. A pseudo‐quadruple hydrogen‐bonding motif is formed between the xanthinium cations and the water molecules via N—H...O and O—H...O hydrogen bonds in both structures, and leads to the formation of one‐dimensional polymeric tapes. These cation–water tapes are further connected by the respective anions and aggregate into two‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonded sheets in (I) and three‐dimensional arrangements in (II).